Remembering Alan Turing

Alan Turing, long thought to be the father of computer science, would have been 100 on Saturday.

NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- The man known as the "father of computer science" would have been celebrating his 100th birthday on Saturday.

English-born Alan Turing is known for the creation of his namesake machine, which was based on many concepts that led to the development of the modern computer. His work was also a precursor to artificial intelligence technology.

Alan Turing

Companies like EMC ( EMC) and its RSA Security division, as well as Symantec ( EMC) and Intel ( INTC) owe a great deal to Turing's concepts in helping shape cyber security.

Turing was a codebreaker for the British during the second World War, and in this role he broke and deciphered many German codes and ciphers.

In 1952, he was arrested for homosexuality in the U.K., where homosexual acts were still illegal at the time. Instead of going to prison, Turing agreed to receive injections of female hormones, a process known as "chemical castration." In 1954, he committed suicide by ingesting cyanide.

In 2009, then British Prime Minister Gordon Brown officially apologized publicly on behalf of the British government for its treatment of Turing.

-- Written by Chris Ciaccia in New York

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